Yes, It’s OK To Repeat That Outfit At Your Friend’s Wedding

The wedding season does not begin till November but we are sure you have already got the invites to the shaadis scheduled in 2019. Because us Indians take weddings very seriously, it may also mean that you are perhaps already panicking about the limited scope of your wardrobe.

Desi weddings do call for show-stopping outfits and it’s not just the bride who gets that memo. The bridal party too is supposed to show up and show out for every ceremony, and boy are there many of them. So, that panic we talked about in the first paragraph is legit and not unfounded. But do we really need to spend many weeks and many thousands on a selection of outfits that we are not even “allowed” to repeat? Yes, repeating outfits at weddings is still not considered okay. You are surrounded by cameras and the pictures are supposed to last for posterity. Do you want to be seen wearing the same pink saree at three of your college BFFs weddings? I say, why not!

It’s 2019, so why are we still judging people on the frequency of the days where they wear the same outfit. And it seems no one is immune from this shaming. Mallika Sherawat was trolled for repeating an outfit at Cannes. Such is the tyranny of the Instagram comments section that even regular women amass humongous piles of clothes just so that no ones points and laughs at their limited wardrobes on social media. Perhaps it is this fear of societal ridicule which makes so many of us reluctant to repeat outfits at weddings. After all, there is no one as good as dismissive aunts and uncles to take your self confidence down a notch or two.

This dismissal is simply a symptom of the all-pervasive influence of the consumerist culture which tells us that our worth can be measured by the quantity of “stuff” we own. The more things we own, the better we are supposed to feel about ourselves, and if we do not have a new outfit for every time we are in public, it is seen as a failure of sorts. This vanity has big costs though, personal, financial and environmental.

If you truly want to express your stance with your clothing, pick an outfit or two and recycle them over the many ceremonies and parties that you will attend between November and February. Challenge your inner fashionista and give the outfit multiple avatars by styling it cleverly. So, this wedding season be an outfit repeater with pride.